Apple, one of the world's most prestigious companies, announced on Monday that it will appoint a new chief executive officer (CEO). The iPhone maker Apple issued a statement on Monday, saying that current CEO Tim Cook will be the company's executive chairman and that Senior Vice President of Hardware Engineering John Turnas will be the CEO. With this, John will be Apple's 8th CEO.

Cook responded that it is the greatest opportunity to lead Apple. Praising Turnas, Cook described him as 'an engineer's mind, an innovator's spirit and a sense of integrity'. Cook said that he would be the most suitable leader for the coming days.

Apart from John Turnas, Apple's software chief Craig Federighi, Apple's head of services Eddy Cue, Apple's retail and human resources chief Deirdre O'Brien and others were also discussed as Cook's successor. However, Apple has finally chosen John Turnas, who is considered Cook's right-hand man.

Turnas expressed his gratitude for the new responsibility and pledged to advance Apple's goals. He has spent most of his career at Apple, recalling the opportunity to work with Steve Jobs and Tim Cook as an important experience. 

Cook has been with Apple since 1998. He became CEO in 2011 and introduced products such as the Apple Watch, AirPods, and Apple Vision Pro, as well as services such as iCloud, Apple Pay, Apple TV, and Apple Music. Under his leadership as CEO, the company has achieved significant financial and organizational expansion, according to an Apple statement.

‘Since Cook took over, the company’s market value has increased from approximately $350 billion to $4 trillion, an increase of more than 1,000 percent,’ the statement said. ‘The company’s annual revenue has also nearly quadrupled. Revenue, which was $108 billion in 2011, is expected to reach more than $416 billion by 2025.’ 

During Cook’s tenure, Apple’s presence in emerging markets such as India, Vietnam, and South Korea expanded significantly. Apple now operates in more than 200 countries and territories and has more than 500 retail stores, the company said. During Cook's tenure, the company added more than 100,000 new employees and the number of Apple devices in active use exceeded 2.5 billion, the statement said. 

'Amidst global events that directly affected the company, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and President Donald Trump's tariff policies and trade war with China, Cook skillfully protected the company from risks,' CNN journalist Lisa Iadicicco wrote. 'However, Apple's recent initiatives in areas such as virtual reality and artificial intelligence have not been successful. The company's expensive Apple Vision Pro headset is still limited to a few users.'

Cook, who became CEO after Apple's 'visionary' and risk-taking founder Steve Jobs, was under pressure to bring 'trendsetting products' like Jobs. However, he prioritized gradual improvements over revolution, as CNBC journalists Ari Levy and Jonathan Vanion wrote. 

Cook's special success is considered to be his ability to make the issue of user privacy a 'brand value'. While 'privacy' was only a feature during Jobs' time, Cook made it the foundation of Apple's business strategy. While companies like Google and Meta (Facebook) were using user data for advertising, Cook established the statement that Apple 'does not sell data'.

Many remember the dispute between Apple and the US government over the issue of iPhone 'unlock' in 2016. At that time, a terrorist attack took place in San Bernardino, California, USA, which killed 14 people.

After the attack, police seized the iPhone 5C carried by one of the attackers, Syed Rizwan Farook. The FBI wanted to see the call records, messages and other data inside the iPhone for investigation. However, the phone had a 'passcode'. The FBI asked Apple to develop a way to unlock the phone (backdoor). However, Apple refused. 

As the dispute with the FBI, the courts, and the US government escalated, Tim Cook wrote an open letter titled ‘A Message to Our Customers’ in February 2016, saying that the government’s demands were unreasonable and would jeopardize customer security.

‘We respect the work of the FBI, but it would set a dangerous precedent for the government to force us to compromise the security of our users,’ Cook wrote. Eventually, the FBI dropped the case against Apple and it was reported that the iPhone was unlocked by an Israeli company. However, this incident identified Apple as a company that can fight its own government for the protection of user data. 

Now, in the competition of AI and advanced technology, Apple is heard complaining that it is lagging behind other brands and companies. According to CNN, Apple was expected to release a special update to its voice assistant ‘Siri’ this year to compete with AI tools like ChatGPT and Gemini.

However, it has been delayed. There has been a lot of talk about Apple’s slow pace in AI and this is a major challenge for it. Analysts have also been constantly raising questions with Tim Cook about its AI strategy. 

In such an environment, Turnus is going to take over the role of CEO after Cook. He joined the company from the product design team in 2001. The company says he played a key role in the development of products like the iPad and iPod. Just last month, he unveiled Apple’s first affordable MacBook, the ‘MacBook Neo’.